A Work in Progress

Current word count: 20,450

What can I say? It’s been a busy and productive week!

I almost wish I’d gone ahead and made the full commitment of 50,000 words for the month. Almost.

Although the month is not quite over, I’m quite pleased that I not only achieved twice my personal goal of 10,000 words for the month, but that I fulfilled that personal commitment to myself. (I’m trying imagine what it would be like to achieve double the expected word count for NaNoWriMo . . . perhaps if I checked into a hotel and gave up sleep for most of the month?)

Two more days to go. Let’s see where I end up!

Current word count: 10,311

I hit my personal goal of 10,000 words for the month last night. Every word beyond this point is a bonus.

Sure, I won’t “win” this month, but that was never my intent. I think pushing myself to 50,000 words one month a year is enough.

I’ve made my way to the overarching storyline, so I’m pleased with that. I’ve also decided that, however I am writing it now, the finished novel will retain its original non-linear structure.

There’s a reason my muse makes those suggestions. I find it’s usually wise to listen to her.

Current word count: 8,625

Not quite as much progress as last week, but quite respectable given the busy week and summer cold I had. As my personal goal was 10,000 words by the end of the month, I’m in good shape to hit that.

The writing itself has been going pretty well. I’ve been working on completing one event sequence in the overall story. I should be able to wrap it up in the next day or so. After that, though, I really need to work on the overarching background story. I wrote one long scene for it earlier in the month, but haven’t really fleshed it out beyond that.

Back to camp! Rumors are that there will (virtual) marshmallows around the (virtual) campfire tonight!

Current word count: 5,896

Not bad at all, particularly considering that my personal goal was to hit 10,000 words for the month. Only one week down and I’m more than halfway to that goal.

The muse has been surprisingly cooperative, especially the short notice I gave her. If all goes well, I just might have a completed first-draft novel at the end of all this.

It is another day of great sadness. We have lost another of our great masters of speculative fiction: Ray Bradbury.

His influence and impact was arguably profound. Many of his works are recognized as classics in the field across generations of readers.

Many years ago, I had the pleasure of attending with a good friend a talk given by Ray Bradbury hosted at UC San Diego. He ended the session, as I’ve been told he always does, by pointing out over the audience and telling us, “Live forever!”.

Through his works, he will.

Yes, I have probably finally lost what little remains of my sanity.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ll admit right up front that I have no illusions of actually hitting 50,000 words in either June or August. The goal here is to keep me honest and ensure that I write everyday with the intent of actually completing the first draft of my NaNoWriMo 2010 novel.

That’s really all there is to it.

A little structure can be a good thing.